I love a great vegetarian pasta, especially if there’s cheese or cream involved. This James Viles recipe perfectly pairs sweet, smoky beetroot with salty goats cheese and silky ribbons of egg pappardelle. Poppy seeds add crunch and nuttiness, butter builds richness, and beetroot leaves (which I find are reminiscent of kale) bring a vibrant freshness. This is perfect for a quick mid-week dinner, especially if you skip the smoking part of the recipe to speed up the process. I was also thinking you could improvise this if you don’t have poppy seeds in your pantry by swapping for hazelnuts or other seeds.

Eric halved the recipe below to make dinner for the two of us. It serves four, otherwise.

1 Barilla La Collezione pappardelle all’uovo

1 large red beetroots

80g butter

10g poppy seeds

2 cloves garlic

40ml olive oil

100g good quality goats cheese

beetroot leaves

salt

timber for smoking

Place a pot of salted water on the boil. Peel then cut the beetroot into small slices. Cook in the water until almost soft. Remove beetroot from water for smoking; place timber in a deep baking dish, place the beetroot on a wire rack on top of the tray and light the timber. Smother the beetroot by placing another tray on top. Repeat the process until the desired level of smoke is achieved. Slice the garlic and gently cook in the olive oil. Add the poppy seeds, followed by the beetroot, and stir. Cook the pasta for 4-6 minutes in boiling salted water. Add the pasta to the beetroot mixture, remove from the heat and add the butter. Season and place into a bowl. Crumble the goats cheese over the top. Place torn beetroot leaves on top to finish.

This recipe was created by James Viles of Biota Dining. All ingredients and the recipe were supplied via Barilla.

Sliced beetroot after smokingEgg pappardelle from BarillaSeasoning the pastaTossing the pappardellePlating beginsPlacing the beetroot slicesEric being a bit lame using tweezersCrumbling the goats cheesePlating is so tediousAnd ta-da!